Carlton also announced on Wednesday that it had delisted senior players Aaron Joseph, Luke Mitchell, Patrick McCarthy and Marcus Davies. Rookie-listed players Rhys O'Keeffe, Frazer Dale and Andrew Collins are the other players to go.

After two seasons at Geelong, Laidler joined Carlton and flourished with 19 games in 2011.

But injury restricted him to four matches last year and he did not play senior football this season under Malthouse after round two. ''He expressed that he would like to look for an opportunity at another club and we respect and support his decision to do so,'' Carlton football manager Andrew McKay said.

Collins came to Carlton in the trade that sent Shaun Grigg to Richmond.

Joseph played 73 games in five seasons for Carlton and was their best first-year player in 2009.

■ Former Collingwood sport science director David Buttifant will be reunited with Mick Malthouse at Carlton as the Blues' high-performance manager.

Buttifant, who spent 13 seasons with the Magpies, replaces Justin Cordy, who quit the Blues last month.